Scott Dickson's Blog

Last week, I spent the week in our OS Ambassador meeting in Menlo Park. More on that later. This week is CEC in Las Vegas. So, I ended up spending the weekend in Las Vegas.

This Sunday was World Communion Sunday, where Christians all over the world all celebrate Holy Communion on the same day. For me, this is always a powerful statement of the universality of the church. Being on the Strip in Las Vegas, getting to church is a struggle. But, Web 2.0 to the rescue. Google Maps found for me the University United Methodist Church, across the street from UNLV.

Google Maps told me it was 2.7 miles from the hotel to the church, so off I went. Even with the long walk there (and back!), I was really glad that I went. Lovely, small church, but very nice people, and a service that left me thinking hard all the way back to the hotel.

The text was Luke 17:5-10. The first part of this passage is a familiar one, but the second part is a hard, hard saying. But more than that, I pondered all the way home the word "rehearse" in the liturgy. I think there's a lot there to think about still.

For the past several years, I have been associated with the Disciple Bible Study program at my church, Roswell United Methodist, first as a student, and for the last two years as a leader. This year, I will be leading Disciple IV on Monday nights. The Disciple series of studies are typically concurrent with the school year and include daily reading, prayer and reflection, and a group meeting for 2 1/2 hours weekly. The focus of the whole series can best be summed up in the title of the first study "Becoming Disciples Through Bible Study." There are four foundation classes in the Disciple series. Disciple I is prerequisite for all the others, but once you take Disciple I, you have the necessary foundation to take the others in any order. The four foundation classes are

• Disciple I: Becoming Disciples Through Bible Study - Survey of the entire Bible
• Disciple II: Into the Word, Into the World - Genesis, Exodus, Luke, and Acts in some depth. This course challenges students to hear and respond to the call of God to go in service into the world.
• Disciple III: Remember Who You Are - The Old Testament prophets and the letters of Paul teach us how to live as Christians in today’s world.
• Disciple IV: Under the Tree of Life - The Writings of the Old Testament and, from the New Testament, the gospel of John and the Revelation.

Many United Methodist churches offer Disciple, as well as many other churches. In Roswell, the United Presbyterian Church also offers the classes. If you are looking for a deeper understanding of your faith and what the Bible says to you, I highly recommend this class. The commitment of time and effort is substantial, but so is the reward.

When I have to be away for the weekend, travelling for work, I make a point to still go to church. Sometimes it feels kind of perfunctory, but other times, it is really a blessing. For several years, it seemed that I was always at an OS Ambassador meeting or some other sort of meeting on Ash Wednesday. So, I attended Ash Wednesday services at First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto. This church is shared by a Tongan and a Fijian congregation and the Ash Wednesday service with the soul-shaking music from the islands is something I won't forget. But that's another story. Today, I went to Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in downtown San Francisco. This was like no other service I have ever attended. The congregation was a cross-section of San Francisco - young, old, straight, gay, white, black, hispanic, asian. And like the song says, _surely the presence of the Lord is in this place; I can feel His mighty power and his grace._ I don't know a lot about Glide, but it seems like this church is a real force for good in downtown San Francisco. I usually attend the traditional Sunday morning worship at my home church. I find that the old hymns and the traditional liturgy really touch me. We also have a contemporary service that I attend from time to time. But the service at Glide is a rocking gospel service! Bluesman John Turk led the music and was joined by the Glide Ensemble. The excitement and enthusiasm were everywhere in the church. Living in the South, it feels like a smaller proportion of the folks in the Bay area are "church people," but the folks at Glide were a welcome surprise. The service opened with Fanny Crosby's classic Pass Me Not, Oh Gentle Savior, and the singing continued for 45 minutes. The Reverend Douglas Fitch preached on Cosmic Dreamers, using the text from Genesis 37 where Joseph's dream stirs up jealousy in his brothers. Dr. Fitch was rounding out Black History Month talking about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a cosmic dreamer in the line of Joseph. He talked about how cosmic dreamers challenge us to take the abstract dreams and bring them into the concrete, how they present to us up close and personal just exactly what God has in mind for us. I kept thinking that he was going to connect all of this to the life of Jesus, but he never did. But, he did say one thing that really stuck with me. Dr. Fitch said that it is easier to honor the dead than it is to follow the living. We tend to make a cult of admiration for the cosmic dreamer cut down for the dreams that they have. And that's the easy thing. Much more difficult is to recognize the power of the dreamer while they are still living and serve and follow them while still alive. That got me to thinking about our relationship to Jesus, too. So many people focus on the death of Jesus and honor the dead for the sacrifice Jesus made. But in this season of Lent, as we prepare to celebrate and remember the events of Jesus Passion, that the dream does not end on Good Friday with the cross. It begins again on Easter with the Resurrection! So, we are challenged: will we honor the dead Jesus, or follow and serve the living Jesus? Even though that wasn't the actual core of Dr. Fitch's messsage, it was the question I came away with.

Here's a New Year's Day journal entry. Guess the year ... bq. ??January 1 -- How much were men divided in their expectations of the ensuing year! Some believed it would bring a large harvest of temporal calamities; others that it would be unusually fruitful of spiritual blessings. Indeed, the general expectation of these calamities spread a general seriousness over the nation.?? Here are a couple of hints: * Americans and Europeans where engaged in a war far from their respective homelands. As a result of this war, inhabitants of the contested area were forced from their homelands and relocated far from their familiar homes. * An undersea earthquake had recently caused a surprise tsunami, accompanied by unfathomable death and destruction. And the answer is *1756*. The quote is taken from the journal of John Wesley. * Europe and the British colonies in America were involved in the French and Indian War, considered by some a _world war_. * As a result of the war, the Acadians, French Catholic inhabitants in Canada, were forcibly relocated to southern Louisiana and became the Cajuns * An undersea earthquake in 1755 had caused a tsunami that hit Lisbon, Portugal, killing 30,000 people. Interesting that the more things change, the more they stay the same. In that same journal entry, Wesley continues bq. ??This was a means of abundant spiritual blessing. We endeavored in every part of the kingdom to avail ourselves of the apprehensions which we frequently found it was impossible to remove, in order to make these conducive to a nobler end; to that "fear of the Lord" which "is the beginning of wisdom."?? May this year be a blessing to you!

In 1755, "John Wesley":http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/index.htm first proposed the idea of an annual renewal of our individual Covenant with God. Since that time, the Methodist church has taken up this "Covenant Renewal Service":http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/covenant/index.htm as an important part of the annual church calendar. Most typically, the Covenant Renewal liturgy is part of a New Year's Eve watchmight service, a New Year's day service, or the service on the first Sunday of the year. The liturgy used today in the United Methodist Church is straight from Wesley's 1780 service. To me, this is a powerful statement of recommitment and not something to be taken up lightly. While Wesley felt it important to set aside a time to remember, assess, and renew our commitment to a life modeled on Christ, he also was adamant that this not be taken up lightly or done so frequently as to dilute the occasion. Wesley's point not only in the Covenant Service, but in his entire way of approaching God and worship was a challenge to what he saw as softness and accommodation on the part of the _mainline churches_ of the day. He felt it important to purposefully and methodically apply oneself in the pursuit of a truly Christlike life. But at the same time, he was painfully aware that no one is able to succeed at this task, except through the free application of the Grace of God. This comes through in the Covenant Renewal liturgy. Central to the Covenant Renewal Service was the Covenant Prayer. In it, the participants yield their will to God's will: I am no longer my own, but Thine Put me to what Thou wilt, rank me with whom Thou wilt, put me to doing, put me to suffering, let me be employed for Thee or laid aside for Thee, exalted for Thee or brought low for Thee, let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely yield all things to Thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O might God, the Lord Omnipotent, Father Son, and Holy Spirit, you have now become my Coventant Friend. And I, through your infinite grace, have become your covenant servant. So be it. And let the covenant I have made on earth be ratified in Heaven. John Wesley felt so strongly about this renewal of Covenant relationship that he encouraged people not only to participate in the liturgy, but to write and sign this pledge, in the presence of the gathered congregation, so impress upon themselves and the congregation gathered the import of the pledge and their mutual obligation to help each other in keeping it. This is the topic for my Sunday School lesson on Sunday. I hope that my class (mostly adults 45-55 years old) get as much from this liturgy as I do each year.

Today is New Year's Eve. A week ago was Christmas Eve. My wife and I went to church together on Christmas Eve at my church, Roswell United Methodist Church. She's Catholic, and a member of St. Ann's Parish in Marietta, Ga. so we sometimes split which church we go to for special days. this year was Christmas Eve at my church. I have to say it was fabulous. We had a service of Candles, Lessons, and Carols, patterned after the traditional service of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge. For me, the highlight of the service was our music. Michael O'Neal and Tom Alderman, the director of music and the organist at RUMC, lead the Sanctuary Choir and the 1600 congregants assembled in a moving expression of the joy of Christmas. When we joined our voices to sing O Come, All Ye Faithful it brought tears to my eyes. As the sopranos took the descant on the last verse and we sang, Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning; Jesus, to Thee be all glory given; Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing. O, come let us adore Him, O, come let us adore Him, O, come let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord. I almost couldn't continue. So powerful are those words, that setting, and the force of so many assembled believers. That's what makes Christmas Christmas!

Tomorrow is the fourth Sunday of Advent. For the past four weeks, we have been preparing once again for Jesus to burst into the world through Christmas. Right now, I am searching for some church in Atlanta having a Christmas morning service. To me, there is no more enjoyable or appropriate way to start Christmas than in church, especially with a big congregation and big choir singing the great Christmas hymns. Joy to the World, the Lord is Come. O, Come All Ye Faithful. Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning. You just can't beat it.

Spent this afternoon shopping for my wife's present. Always a challenge for lots of reasons I won't go into here. In any case, I had some of my favorite Christmas music on in the car - Tish Hinojosa, Ralph Stanley, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir - quite an eclectic mix. It got me to thinking about two of my favorite Christmas stories. I want to share those here. The first is The Story of the Other Wise Man by Henry van Dyke. This is the story of Artaban, the 4th of the Magi travelling to greet Jesus. He gets delayed along the way and never makes it to the manger, but spends his life keeping up the search. A fabulous story. Henry van Dyke also wrote the hymn Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.

The other story is the story of Barrington Bunny by Martin Bell. it comes from his book The Way of the Wolf and is one that is guaranteed to bring a tear to most any eye.

So, take a few minutes in the rush up to Christmas and read these. You'll be glad you did.

I am leading a 32-week Bible study this year, Disciple III - Remember Who You Are. This is a study of the prophets of the Old Testament for the first half, and then the letters of Paul for the second half. This last week, we were looking at Jeremiah for a second week. One of the class members asked how Jeremiah had died. As you might expect, Jeremiah's book is silent on this. In it, he, his secretary Baruch, and others are taken by force with a group of citizens of Jerusalem who flee to Egypt to escape the Babylonians. Tradition has it that Jeremiah died in Taphanes (Tannis) in Egypt. Some say he died as an old, old man, others (notably Tertullian) say he was martyred there.

But Google is your friend in solving this kind of question. A quick Google found a huge number of pages that all claimed that Jeremiah, Baruch, the king's daughter Tea Tephi, and two others, fled to Ireland with the Ark of the Covenant. Once in Ireland, the prophet continued to preach. Tea Tephi wed the High King of Ireland and went on to be an ancestor of all of the royal lines of Europe and many US presidents (including both George Bush and candidate John Kerry). Many of these pages also go on to try to harmonize the messages of many of the world's religions.

This was especially interesting to me since part of Jeremiah's message is to shun false prophets who tell you want you want. Wishing does not make it so. And he preached against syncretism, still a major issue today. I guess this is kind of one of my personal soap boxes. All of the things that the church decided were heresy years ago keep coming back around today. Ecclesiastes had it right so long ago. Even then, they say that which has been is that which will be. There is nothing new under the sun.